Posts tagged Washington
“Zero Dark Thirty” Deserves All the Awards It Receives
Jan 19th
“All the Awards It Receives”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
Zero Dark Thirty is the fascinating story of the hunt for Osama bin Laden by the C.I.A. and the attack by SEAL Team 6 on his compound in Pakistan which ended with his death.
It was directed by Kathryn Bigelow, who previously directed the 2009 The Hurt Locker, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture and for which Bigelow won the Academy Award for Best Director, the first time a woman had ever won that award.
That feat could easily be duplicated with this outstanding film.
The title refers to 30 minutes after midnight, and Jessica Chastain stars as Maya, based on the real C.I.A. agent who was most responsible for the work it took to track down and locate where bin Laden was hiding almost 10 years after the attack and destruction of the World Trade Center in New York City.
Chastain has already won an award for this role and most likely will win many more awards for her outstanding acting in this film.
We see Maya at a so-called “black site,” where she is observing the “enhanced interrogation” of a detainee, which is being conducted by Dan, a fellow agent.
Dan tells the detainee, “When you lie to me, I hurt you.”
And Dan does, which is a bit ingenuous, because how can you tell that a person is lying when such interrogation tactics are being used on him?
Maya is based in Pakistan, and we learn that she didn’t volunteer for this assignment to track down bin Laden, but she was appointed to it because Washington believes she is a “killer” at her job.
While we watch Maya and her colleagues gather the evidence they need in order to uncover the whereabouts of their target, we also see the terrorist attacks around the world that occurred during those years, which were attributed to al Qaida, if not to bin Laden himself.
Maya concentrates her search on one man, Abu Ahmed, whom she believes to be the courier for bin Laden, and time is lost over a confusion brought about by his name.
In fact, Arab names are confusing and hard to understand by westerners, including those in the audience.
Familiar actors also appear in the film, but Chastain stands out.
Zero Dark Thirty deserves all the awards it receives.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
“Red Dawn” Is Dumb, but Emotional
Dec 1st
“Dumb, but Emotional”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
Red Dawn was shot in 2010, but studio problems delayed its release until two years later.
And whenever a film is delayed, that usually means that it is not too good, which is also the case with this one.
It stars Chris Hemsworth and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, although when he filmed it, Hemsworth had not yet become “Thor” in some other movies.
Also, the delay allowed the filmmakers time to change the invading army troops from Chinese to North Korean, so that the distributors could sell the film in China and not face discrimination.
So, if you want to see a film about a group of American teenagers who fight an invading army from a foreign country, I recommend that you see the 1984 version instead, which stars Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen in his first feature film, Jennifer Grey, Ben Johnson, Harry Dean Stanton, and Powers Booth.
And whenever a film has plenty of star power, that sometimes means that it is better than good, which is also the case with that one.
The story in the first one takes place in Colorado, instead of in Spokane, Washington, which is where the story in the new one takes place.
Okay, a widespread blackout occurs in the northwest corridor of the United States, and a TV news report warns, “Don’t go outside unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
The next morning paratroopers land in town and invading troops take over the town and kill and capture its citizens.
Jed is a Marine visiting his family between tours of duty in Iraq, and Matt is his brother, who is in high school. Jed senses the danger, and he and Matt take off for the family cabin in the mountains, along with some of Matt’s high-school friends, and they start training with Jed’s leadership to form a resistance army and fight the invading North Koreans.
So, the film consists of lots of fighting, lots of explosions, and lots of destruction and dying.
Even though they get some support from a very few real soldiers, there are just too many unanswered questions and holes in this movie.
Red Dawn is dumb, but emotional, and once again I say if you want to see a better version of this movie, see the one that came out in 1984.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
Red Dawn – Movie Trailer
Nov 25th
In Red Dawn, a city in Washington state awakens to the surreal sight of foreign paratroopers dropping from the sky – shockingly, the U.S. has been invaded and their hometown is the initial target. Quickly and without warning, the citizens find themselves prisoners and their town under enemy occupation. Determined to fight back, a group of young patriots seek refuge in the surrounding woods, training and reorganizing themselves into a guerrilla group of fighters. Taking inspiration from their high school mascot, they call themselves the Wolverines, banding together to protect one another, liberate their town from its captors, and take back their freedom.